A sheep in wolf's clothing

In Defense Of Man’s Best Buddy

I have a bone to pick with humanity. Dogs are man’s best friend. No doubt about it and most people who have kept a dog as a pet or companion in their lives will agree. We even use them to pull sleds, find people buried in the snow, jobs like sniffing out drugs & other chemicals, explosives, guide for blind an deaf people, people with other disabilities and policing! Such noble creatures and yet we treat them so badly, physically and verbally!

When you don’t like the way a woman behaves, she is termed as a bitch! If you hate someone because of something he has said or done you label him a son of a bitch! You ridicule people by calling them dog poop or worse dog poop eater! Or dog shit – which means that you consider them to be very lowly, even lower than human excrement. “I wouldn’t even let a dog go out in this weather” – means,, that it is so cold that even the last thing you consider to keep safe should not go out! Really, they are so low on the totem pole? What has this noblest of all creatures ever done to deserve this? They pine for you when you are not there, welcome you home with excitement, love and a friendly wagging tail, year for your affection and a pat on the head and will die for you or a belly rub? Is that the crime what they have done?

I remember a few years ago while having lunch at my uncle’s house, my grandmother was talking about some stuff and she happened to remark that it used to be a common belief that Nambudiri Brahmins (the Brahmins or highest caste of Hindus of Kerala who usually perform rituals & poojas) who committed sins are reborn as dogs! Me & my family aren’t brahmins. Now being a dog lover & an atheist who doesn’t think highly of snobbish & know it all poojaris & holier than thou god & godmen and even less of reincarnation, my instant reply to her, much to my uncle & cousin’s amusement, went like this : “Don’t say that grandma! That’s incorrect; it’s actually all dogs who commit sins are reborn as Nambudiris! Worst punishment ever!”